The Coaching Crowd® Podcast with Jo Wheatley & Zoe Hawkins

Jo Wheatley and Zoe Hawkins

The Coaching Crowd® Podcast is a weekly podcast for compassionate, courageous leaders, HR professionals and high achievers who are passionate about helping others to find alignment in their lives through coaching, and who are thinking of training and developing as a coach. Hosted by Zoe Hawkins and Jo Wheatley, Founders of Global Coaching Training Company "In Good Company", based in the UK, (https://www.igcompany.com). Zoe and Jo are Master Accredited, Award Winning and Multi Award Nominated coaches, coach trainers and coach supervisors. They are authors of the best selling book 'Deciding to Coach: The Mindset & Business Strategy For Aspiring Coaches'. Each episode focuses on a different element of what it is to be a coach and you'll listen in as Zoe and Jo discuss the topic through different lenses. You'll discover practical tools and resources you need to support your coaching as you learn all about becoming a qualified and certified coach. This podcast is a go-to resource for learning more about coaching and the mindset needed to be a world class coach. You'll learn how to enable clients to truly know who they are, what their hearts call for and how to understand their values, beliefs and unconscious needs. Coaching goes beyond professional success and personal fulfilment and focuses on supporting everyday mental health. As you learn more about coaching, you learn to coach yourself. You are In Good Company with The Coaching Crowd®. In Good Company offers accredited coaching qualifications for individuals and organisations around the world, as well as ground breaking accredited CPD for coaches such as the trade marked Emotions Coaching Practitioner Training. You can join our courses and learn more about our communities here www.igcompany.co.uk and take our free quiz to find out which coaching course is right for you www.mycoachingcourse.com.

  1. 4 days ago

    5 Reasons To Train In Group and Team Coaching

    What becomes possible for us as coaches when we move beyond the privacy of one to one conversations and begin working with the energy, complexity, and potential of groups and teams? In this episode of The Coaching Crowd podcast, we explored why so many coaches are choosing to train in group and team coaching, and why this area of coaching practice feels increasingly relevant in today's professional landscape. We wanted to bring this conversation to the podcast because coaching is no longer limited to one to one development conversations. More organisations, leaders, teams, and individuals are seeking collective development experiences. They want spaces where people can learn together, reflect together, challenge one another, and feel part of something more connected. That matters because so many people are experiencing disconnection, pressure, and exhaustion. Group coaching and team coaching can create powerful spaces where people feel seen, heard, and supported by others who may be facing similar questions or challenges. In a professional context, this also gives coaches the opportunity to work more systemically, supporting culture, communication, leadership development, and organisational change at scale. During the conversation, we reflected on the size of the opportunity for coaches. Group and team coaching are not new, but more coaches are now asking how they can broaden their work, move into organisations, support teams, run development programmes, and offer more than individual coaching sessions. For coaches who have mainly worked one to one, this shift can feel exciting, but also intimidating. We spoke about how group dynamics and team dynamics are far more complex than individual coaching. When you move into a one to many setting, there are more relationships, expectations, emotions, roles, and patterns in the room. This means coaches need more than confidence. They need structure, skill, presence, and an understanding of the psychodynamics that can emerge when people come together. One of the key reflections from this episode was that training in group and team coaching can benefit you even when you are not yet sure whether you want to specialise in this area. It develops your systemic thinking. It helps you see your one to one coaching clients as part of wider systems, including families, teams, organisations, communities, and cultures. That naturally expands the quality of the questions you ask and the way you support clients to understand themselves. We also explored how training in this area can open doors. Many coaches begin with one to one coaching in an organisation and then get asked whether they can support a team, design a programme, facilitate a workshop, or help with a leadership development initiative. Those moments can be exciting, but they can also create doubt. Having training behind you can give you the confidence, credibility, and practical tools to say yes to those opportunities. Another important theme was the need for coaches to think strategically about their business. Group and team coaching can help create more scalable offers, more variety, and more routes into organisational contracts. It can sit alongside one to one coaching, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and wider organisational development work. We also reflected on the human nature of this work. Modern coaching is not only about performance. It is relational, emotionally intelligent, and systemic. In a world where artificial intelligence is changing how people work, human relationships are becoming even more important. Knowledge may be increasingly available, but connection, trust, culture, and shared understanding still require human presence. That is why group and team coaching feels so valuable. It supports people to understand how they relate, communicate, collaborate, and make progress together. It also gives coaches the chance to engage with the living, breathing reality of organisational culture and human behaviour. In the episode, we also shared more about our Group and Team Coaching programme, including the five phases that sit at the heart of the course: Grounding and Gathering, where we explore how to set the work up for success and orientate people into the coaching experience. Roles and Responsibilities, where we consider the role of the coach and the roles that people naturally take up in groups and teams. Options and Opportunity, where we explore coaching methodologies, practical activities, and ways to work creatively with groups and teams. Union and Understanding, where we look at group dynamics and the complexity of human behaviour in collective spaces. Presence and Progress, where we focus on closure, endings, progress, sustainability, and how groups and teams recognise and carry forward change. We also discussed the mindset of a group and team coach, because this is emotional work. How we resource ourselves, what we believe about groups, and how we manage our own presence will shape the quality of the work we offer. This episode is for coaches who are curious about expanding their practice, leaders and HR professionals who already work with groups and teams, and anyone who wants to build more confidence in facilitating meaningful collective development. Ultimately, group and team coaching is not an either or choice. It can sit beautifully alongside one to one coaching. It can widen your impact, strengthen your coaching practice, create new business opportunities, and help you work with the rich complexity of people, culture, and systems. Timestamps: 00:00: Welcome to The Coaching Crowd podcast 00:06: Why so many coaches are training in group and team coaching 00:38: Five reasons to consider group and team coaching 01:58: The size of the opportunity for coaches 03:59: How group and team coaching enhances one to one coaching 05:52: Building confidence to pitch group and team coaching work 06:56: Organisational contracts, leadership development, and scalable offers 08:22: Why group and team coaching requires specific training 09:36: The relational, emotional, and systemic nature of modern coaching 10:02: How AI and changing workplaces are influencing team dynamics 10:44: Overview of the Group and Team Coaching programme 11:10: Grounding and Gathering 11:45: Roles and Responsibilities 12:16: Options and Opportunity 12:46: Union and Understanding 13:06: Presence and Progress 14:00: Mindset and business development for group and team coaches 15:16: Why group and team coaching can be energising and valuable 16:13: Facilitated programme structure and how to join Key Lessons Learned: • Group and team coaching allows coaches to create impact beyond one to one conversations by working with collective learning, shared reflection, and systemic change. • Training in group and team coaching can strengthen your one to one coaching because it helps you see clients within the wider systems they belong to. • Group dynamics and team dynamics are more complex than individual coaching, so coaches need specific skills, structure, and confidence to work well in these spaces. • Organisations are increasingly investing in collective development because workplace culture, relationships, communication, and leadership are changing rapidly. • Group and team coaching can open doors to organisational contracts, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and more scalable coaching offers. • Effective onboarding is crucial because how a group or team enters the coaching experience shapes the safety, clarity, and outcomes of the work. • Human presence, emotional intelligence, and relational skill remain essential in group and team coaching, especially as AI continues to reshape how people work. • Group and team coaching can bring more variety, energy, and strategic growth into a coaching business. • The work is not only for qualified one to one coaches. It can also support leaders, HR professionals, learning and development practitioners, and organisational development specialists. • Group and team coaching is not a replacement for one to one coaching. It can sit alongside it as a powerful extension of your coaching practice. Keywords: group coaching, team coaching, group and team coaching, coaching training, coach training, coaching CPD, one to one coaching, coaching skills, systemic coaching, organisational coaching, leadership development, team development, group dynamics, team dynamics, ,coaching practice, coaching business, coaching programme, emotional intelligence in coaching, workplace coaching, coaching for organisations, Links & Resources Group and Team Coaching course: https://igcompany.com/group

    19 min
  2. When to Stop Mentoring and Start Coaching

    15 Jun

    When to Stop Mentoring and Start Coaching

    Have you ever found yourself giving great advice, only to realise the person in front of you still cannot move forward? In this episode of the podcast, we explored one of the questions many leaders, managers, mentors and people-focused professionals face: when is it time to stop mentoring and start coaching? We began by reflecting on the close relationship between coaching and mentoring. They are often treated as separate roles, but in reality, they can sit on a continuum. Mentoring is often about sharing experience, guidance, wisdom and practical advice. Coaching, on the other hand, helps someone explore what is getting in the way of their growth, decision making, confidence and long-term development. As we talked this through, we recognised how easily managers and mentors can fall into the pattern of answering every question, solving every problem and becoming the person everyone turns to for direction. That can feel useful at first. It can even feel rewarding. But over time, it may lead to dependency, firefighting and frustration. If every conversation ends with advice, the mentee may never build the confidence to find their own answers. A key theme in this episode is the difference between helping someone know what to do and helping them understand how to do it in a way that feels possible for them. Someone may know the next step, but still feel blocked by fear, imposter syndrome, uncertainty, beliefs, emotions or organisational pressures. That is often the point where coaching becomes powerful. We also reflected on the limits of labels. The question may not be whether we are a coach or a mentor. The better question may be: what does this person need from us in this moment? Sometimes they need knowledge. Sometimes they need challenge. Sometimes they need emotional space. Sometimes they need a thinking partner who can help them work beneath the surface. For mentors, line managers and leaders, this episode highlights the importance of recognising repeating patterns. If a mentee keeps returning with the same concern, the same confidence issue or the same barrier, more advice may not be the answer. Coaching skills can help uncover the deeper obstacle and support sustainable growth. We also explored the emotional experience of the mentor. If we begin to feel frustrated, tired or unable to help, that may be a sign that we have reached the edge of what mentoring alone can offer. Rather than blaming the mentee, we can see this as an invitation to expand our own skills and capacity. One of the most important reflections from this conversation is that coaching can help mentees move beyond reliance on the mentor. Great mentoring should equip people for life beyond the relationship. Coaching supports that by helping people build self-trust, self-awareness and the ability to make decisions for themselves. We also talked about how this can show up in organisations. A new employee, or someone stepping into a new role, may benefit from a mentoring approach at first. They may need guidance, structure, advice and practical support. But as they grow in confidence and competence, the relationship may need to evolve. That is where recontracting becomes important. We can have honest conversations about what support is needed now, what has changed and whether the relationship should become more developmental. Ultimately, this episode is about working with people in a way that truly serves their growth. Mentoring has huge value. Coaching has huge value. The real skill is knowing when to offer guidance, when to step back and when to create the space for someone to discover their own way forward. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and episode introduction 00:51 Coaching and mentoring as a continuum 02:19 When mentoring reaches its natural edge 03:14 Coaching the gap beneath the goal 04:56 The limits of coach and mentor labels 05:52 Repeating patterns, confidence and imposter syndrome 07:36 Moving from the what to the how 08:40 Helping mentees grow beyond the relationship 10:03 When the mentor no longer has the answer 11:28 Why mentors benefit from coaching skills 13:05 Recontracting the relationship as people grow 14:47 Coaching training and next steps Key Lessons Learned Mentoring and coaching are closely connected, but they serve different purposes at different moments. Mentoring often focuses on sharing knowledge, experience and advice, while coaching explores what is getting in the way of action and growth. If a mentee keeps bringing the same challenge, theme or confidence block, it may be time to move into a coaching approach. A mentor's frustration can be a useful signal that advice alone is no longer helping the person move forward. Coaching helps people build self-awareness, self-trust and the ability to make decisions beyond the mentoring relationship. Managers who rely only on giving answers can become trapped in firefighting rather than developing their team. The shift from mentoring to coaching often happens when someone knows what to do, but feels unable to take the next step. Recontracting the relationship matters. As people grow, the support they need may change. Coaching skills can strengthen mentoring relationships by helping mentors work with emotions, beliefs, values and systemic pressures. The most effective leaders and mentors are able to blend approaches rather than being limited by one label. Keywords: coaching and mentoring, mentoring versus coaching, coaching skills for mentors, leadership development, coaching for managers, mentoring relationships, imposter syndrome coaching, workplace coaching, professional development, coaching training, executive coaching, team development, self-awareness in leadership, confidence coaching, Links and Resources International Growth and Development Company: www.igcompany.com

    15 min
  3. The Coaching Advantage

    27 May

    The Coaching Advantage

    This episode explores a powerful question at the heart of coaching: what if its real advantage is not simply what you do, but who you become? Coaching is often misunderstood as a skill, tool, or professional add-on, but this conversation revealed something much deeper. Coaching changes how you think, relate, lead, and live. In leadership, it has become essential, especially in a world shaped by uncertainty, complexity, and constant change. It helps leaders build trust, communicate with emotional awareness, inspire others, and navigate complexity with greater clarity. We also explored how coaching develops the ability to hold multiple perspectives. It builds mental agility, allowing you to step into someone else's world, understand their view, and then return to your own with clarity. That flexibility transforms relationships by creating collaboration instead of conflict and connection instead of resistance. Coaching also strengthens resilience, helping you move through challenge more quickly by reframing, adapting, and responding with intention. It gives access to a steadier internal resource and strengthens your sense of identity, values, and how you want to show up in the world. The conversation also highlighted the relational advantage of coaching. It changes how you listen, respond, parent, lead, and connect with others. It encourages a shift from judgement to curiosity, acceptance, and understanding, reducing the mental load of constantly evaluating others and bringing the focus back to personal growth and choice. At the same time, greater awareness can bring greater complexity, as seeing multiple perspectives can sometimes feel overwhelming. Ultimately, coaching gives you options: the ability to choose where to place your attention, how to respond, and how to live with greater intention. Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com  Coaching course quiz: https://www.mycoachingcourse.com

    18 min
  4. Why Personal Brand Matters For Coaches

    4 May

    Why Personal Brand Matters For Coaches

    If people don't know you exist, how can they ever choose to work with you? This episode felt like a necessary conversation. One that many coaches avoid, delay, or quietly struggle with. We explored why personal brand matters for coaches, and more importantly, what it really means beyond the noise of marketing jargon. Because for many, the idea of "personal branding" feels uncomfortable. It can feel like self-promotion, like performance, or like stepping into a space that doesn't quite fit with the values of coaching. And yet, the reality is simple. If people don't know you exist, they cannot work with you. What we reflected on in this episode is that personal brand is not something you create. It is something you reveal. It is how people experience you. It is what you stand for. It is the consistency between what you say and how you show up. When someone chooses a coach, they are not only choosing a skillset. They are choosing a person. They are asking: Do I feel safe with this person? Do our values align? Do I trust how they think and how they work? And personal brand is the bridge that helps answer those questions. We shared openly how, in the early days, we didn't think about personal brand at all. We believed that being a coach was enough. That our work would speak for itself. But over time, we learned something critical. Clarity creates trust. Consistency builds credibility. Visibility creates opportunity. And personal brand sits at the centre of all three. What became clear as we talked was that authenticity is the foundation of everything. We never sat down and decided what our brand would be. We didn't curate a persona or engineer an identity. What you hear on this podcast is who we are in real life. The depth, the curiosity, the challenge, the care. It runs through everything we do. That consistency allows people to understand what it feels like to work with us before they ever step into a room. And that is where personal brand becomes powerful. We also spoke about the discomfort that comes with visibility. There is a moment every coach faces where sharing your voice feels exposing. Where putting your thoughts out into the world feels permanent. Where fear shows up. And yet, growth sits on the other side of that. Personal branding is not about feeling comfortable. It is about being willing to be seen anyway. Over time, it becomes easier. Your voice becomes clearer. Your confidence builds. And what once felt like exposure starts to feel like expression. Another important shift we explored is this: You already have a personal brand. Whether you are intentional about it or not, people are forming perceptions based on how they experience you. The choice is whether you actively shape that experience or leave it to chance. And when you begin to take ownership of it, something changes. You start to see what makes you distinct. You recognise the patterns in how people describe you. You begin to build something that feels aligned, not forced. For us, investing in our brand marked a turning point. It was not only about how others saw us. It was about how we saw ourselves. It moved us from hoping things would work, to deciding that we believed in what we were building. And that shift created momentum. This episode is a reminder that personal brand is not about becoming someone else. It is about standing more fully in who you already are.   Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction to personal branding in coaching 00:43 – What personal brand really means 02:09 – How people experience you as a coach 04:35 – Clarity, consistency, and credibility 06:01 – Authenticity and real-life alignment 08:19 – Why you cannot fake your brand 09:38 – Consistency builds trust over time 12:28 – Visibility and the fear of being seen 15:14 – Recognising what makes you unique 17:37 – Brand evolution and growth over time 20:05 – You already have a brand 21:58 – Investing in your brand and business growth 24:49 – Evolving your brand as you grow 27:43 – Why visibility is essential for success   Key Lessons Learned: Personal brand is about authenticity, not performance Visibility is essential for attracting coaching clients Consistency builds trust and strengthens credibility You already have a personal brand, whether intentional or not Discomfort around visibility is part of growth Your brand should reflect your values, beliefs, and coaching style Testimonials can reveal powerful insights about your brand Investing in your brand can transform your confidence and business growth   Keywords: Personal brand for coaches, Why personal branding matters in coaching, Coaching business growth, Coach visibility and marketing, Authentic personal branding, Coaching identity and brand, How to attract coaching clients, Coaching marketing strategies, Building trust as a coach, Coaching business development,   Links & Resources: IG Company website: https://www.igcompany.com  Coaching course quiz: https://www.mycoachingcourse.com

    26 min

Trailer

4.9
out of 5
247 Ratings

About

The Coaching Crowd® Podcast is a weekly podcast for compassionate, courageous leaders, HR professionals and high achievers who are passionate about helping others to find alignment in their lives through coaching, and who are thinking of training and developing as a coach. Hosted by Zoe Hawkins and Jo Wheatley, Founders of Global Coaching Training Company "In Good Company", based in the UK, (https://www.igcompany.com). Zoe and Jo are Master Accredited, Award Winning and Multi Award Nominated coaches, coach trainers and coach supervisors. They are authors of the best selling book 'Deciding to Coach: The Mindset & Business Strategy For Aspiring Coaches'. Each episode focuses on a different element of what it is to be a coach and you'll listen in as Zoe and Jo discuss the topic through different lenses. You'll discover practical tools and resources you need to support your coaching as you learn all about becoming a qualified and certified coach. This podcast is a go-to resource for learning more about coaching and the mindset needed to be a world class coach. You'll learn how to enable clients to truly know who they are, what their hearts call for and how to understand their values, beliefs and unconscious needs. Coaching goes beyond professional success and personal fulfilment and focuses on supporting everyday mental health. As you learn more about coaching, you learn to coach yourself. You are In Good Company with The Coaching Crowd®. In Good Company offers accredited coaching qualifications for individuals and organisations around the world, as well as ground breaking accredited CPD for coaches such as the trade marked Emotions Coaching Practitioner Training. You can join our courses and learn more about our communities here www.igcompany.co.uk and take our free quiz to find out which coaching course is right for you www.mycoachingcourse.com.

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